› added 8 years ago

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TIL Braille was originally developed as ‘Sonography’, a means for French spies in the Napoleonic Wars to communicate without the use of light. Louis Braille would later point out the flaws in the original code, creating the version we use today.

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Y7a1d TIL the White House has military social aides who's jobs include everything from escorting dignitaries to providing a dance companion or small talk to lonely guests.
yVo7J TIL American gas prices are less than half of Danish gas prices
NXdKQ TIL that in 2009, a 52 year old man used forged papers to enroll as a high school student at Waterford High School.
wLrvP TIL that Iceberg B-15 was the world's largest recorded iceberg. It measured around 295 kilometres (183 mi) long and 37 kilometres (23 mi) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 sq mi)—larger than the whole island of Jamaica.
8ybb TIL Emmy was the ship’s cat on the RMS Empress of Ireland. She never missed a voyage. However, on 28 May 1914, Emmy tried to escape the ship. The crew could not coax her aboard and the Empress left without her, which was regarded as a terrible omen. Early the next morning the Empress sank.